Frances Terpak

Bio

Frances is a curator at the Getty Research Institute. Her areas of focus include early modern optical devices, and 19th-century photography in China, Algeria, Persia, and the Ottoman empire.

Curatorial, Getty Research Institute Curator

Stories

  1. Devices of Wonder

    Article

    Installation Views, Exhibition, Devices of Wonder

    A look back at a 2001 exhibition that dazzled and surprised

    Jul 12, 2022

  2. The Fight to Preserve an Ancient Homeland in Syria

    Article

    Black and white photo of an ancient structure which has walls and a grand archway made of stone and no roof

    History and identity come together to tell the story of Palmyra

    Feb 3, 2021

  3. Theaster Gates Installation Confronts Racist Imagery

    Article

    The separated body parts of a large black-face minstrel lie scattered on a travertine floor.

    A deliberately toppled figure of a blackface caricature asks us to consider how popular images shape thought

    Feb 21, 2019

  4. Photographs of Africa from the Late 1800s

    Article

    Album page shows a sepia-toned photograph of three figures wearing patterned textiles, reads "Zanzibar - types de femmes."

    Rarely exhibited photographs by explorer Edouard Foà capture African cultures at the turn of the 20th century

    Mar 3, 2014